Another Thanksgiving in the books

Just dad and I and 4 dogs.  The dogs did not get any turkey or sides.   We had a 4th dog for a good part of the day.   I think his owner or family was gone for the day.   He whined and whined wanting in most of the day and then about 5 pm he was gone.  I guess we are the unofficial dog hang out for the neighborhood.   We had a great Pyr for a few hours on Tuesday morning.  I went driving around the neighborhood with the  boxer/pitbull ??? yesterday and recognized the GP so now I know his name and that he is just a couple lots over.   Pitty really acted like he wanted to jump out of the car at a couple of places so I'm thinking that was close to home for him.   I think he probably heard his owner's vehicle and sprinted home yesterday.   

I rode Tanza today.  Just a short dirt road ride but it went well.  It was super nice out.  Of course the FNM are making a huge deal out of "we will probably break the record for most days between measurable snowfall"  

The meal turned out OK.   I was disorganized with getting taters on the stove to cook for mashing and the dressing in the oven and had a time getting the turkey into a shallow pan to serve it but gotRdone in the end.  

I rode Tanza in his pen yesterday

 It was a nice warm day and I had a bit of time between meetings so I decided  I should grab a quick ride.  Breeze was going pretty good so I decided to play it safe and just ride in the horse pen.  This is good for us anyway to work on just listening to my direction and speed signals.  I do tend to leave too much to the horse when I'm just riding field roads.   The thigh hematoma did not bother me any.  The only thing it really bothers for is my back stretches with one leg crossed above the other knee.   The nature of that stretch is some forearm force on bent knee and this gives a good hip stretch.   My forearm goes over the hematoma and it is too tender to do the normal stretch.  

I have got to get cracking with making dentist appointment and appt to clean out office at work.   I think they changed my exemption and I am not required to WFH now, but I'm not going to want to get a stupid covid test on a weekly or possibly even 2/week basis and before the stupid vaccine mandate I had discussed working mostly from home and the now deputy director had said "you know that means you won't be able to keep a private office"  It will force me to go through the office books and papers and throw out some stuff.  

I have fallen off on all decluttering at home and need to get back to that and to doing more cleaning.   I don't mind scrubbing something but routine dusting and such seems so futile.  When the obvious dust and stains are gone I notice secondary stuff and being arid high plains new dust moves in within a week.  I'm trying to convince myself that more dusting and stuff will be worth the nicer surroundings.  

I don't know how to shake off my fears or depression

 I don't even know which is the bigger mental hurdle.   I am depressed about covid paranoia, and that my riding buddies that I enjoyed so much in 2020 think that I'm a crappy horse person and making Tanza into a dangerous horse by not vocalizing loud enough for them to hear when he and I are on the same wavelength and I'm being a wussy and slowing through rock cuz I don't want a hoof bruise or stumble and fall.   I am also now a bit scared after coming off of him and him stepping on me when he was freaking out about the long latigo strap last week.   

p.s.   I rode Razz after writing that.   I think he may have a bit of 'white line disease'.  That is a misnomer.  I think white line disease is an actual disease.  Razz looks like he has some loose hoof sole and may have a bit of black infection area next to his hoof wall.   I think that me skipping trimming him thinking he'd have more hoof so wouldn't be ouchy footed may have backfired.   Farrier comes next week, so Razz will get trimmed and I've located his hoof boots,  so if he doesn't have a sore tendon or ligament he should be good to go.   My bruised thigh did not bother most of the time.   Felt like the buckle was rubbing when buckle was actually down at my ankle when I got on but I barely noticed it most of the time.  

Off the hook for T-day travel

 Bro called dad on Monday for dad's bday.  Dad was still talking to sis so had to call bro back.  But bro didn't have insurance check/cash in hand when the modular home company had house ready and it took a good while for that to get sorted and other delays so they will not be back in Paradise for another couple months it sounds like.   So I get to stay home on Thanksgiving weekend.   We will be dog-sitting for our wonderful next door neighbors.    S and kids are driving to Indiana to help S's friend deal with funeral for friend's DH while friend is recovering from severe covid.  I guess covid contributed greatly to the DH's death as well.   She was in hospital and he got sick and neglected to take his insulin or whatever diabetes medicines,  and he ended up having a fatal heart attack.    P will fly to Illinois, spend thanksgiving with his mom and then they will all drive back together.   

Fauci should be in GITMO for helping China develop that nasty disease.  There is no possible good enough reason to be messing with gain of function research in the first place and then to fund it to happen in China?  Of course they were either going to use it as a weapon against the rest of the world or let it out by negligence.   But the FNM is covering for Fauci so far.   And Trump was advised and believed the advice to trust Fauci.   Well I never thought Trump was perfect;  but it rankles a bit that he STILL seems to be unready to fire Fauci if the election had not been stolen.  

Stupid Tanza bucked me off and stepped on my thigh on Saturday.   The bruise/hematoma is still somewhat tender.   I have been blowing off doing any riding even of RazzMo.  I need to get on Razz and take an ambling pace ride soon.  Will be good for both of us.  

Lazy weekend morning

 I need to shake off the laziness.  I want to ride Tanza and RazzMo this weekend and take dad out for supper, or very late lunch.  Well, not really want to, but it would be a good thing.  I hardly talk to him at home for various reasons (he has propaganda on, or my nose is being sensitive and I just want to get upstairs, or wrestling with some work thing and want to get back to it)  

And I need to talk to the sibs, make sure bro is not expecting we will come for T-day, or if he and M are expecting us to come than I need to get cracking like right now to plan the drive, get time off etc.  

Finally Friday?

 It IS Friday and I don't have to be working on finding a new income source.  But I still feel terribly behind.  Well I AM terribly behind.  I pulled out my checkbook and had not given dad a rent check since June.   He doesn't need that income, but I need to know that I am paying good market value.  Probably I do enough around the place I could cut the payment in half,  I did chop it some for the farrier trims I cover and whatnot.  I've been forcing myself to go through the mess of mail on the table and at least separate out what can just be burned.   That is not the "only handle mail once" method that experts recommend but looking at the height of the pile was too overwhelming.   

So mail pile is cut in half or so,  and I showered off the week's grime.  I ordered some Duluth TC jeans for dad's birthday present.  Its mostly a present to me for him to have more jeans so I can just toss a pair in the hamper w/o having to actually run a load of clothes when the pair he has been wearing is getting too ripe for continued wear.  I don't want to wind up in hospital and probably losing sense of smell and taste is miserable; but part of me would be happy to get covid if it meant my nose would lose 90% of its sensitivity. 

I fear with the stupid vaccine mandate, my exemption meaning I continue 100% WFH and businesses and orgs going stupid with "no vaccine no entry" policies I may get stuck in such a hermit rut that I won't be able to resume normal social activities if and when the rest of country gets over the covid hysteria.  Oh well,  at least I know that I took a stand for my principles against letting the gub'mint make my health decisions.